This modern wedding that I have for you all today by Laurel McConnell Photography is pure awesome. Not only are the colors a fabulous combination of orange and turquoise, but the DIY details are absolutely amazing! From handmade placemats and table numbers, to crocheted ring boxes and gorgeous florals, I’m pretty sure you all are going to be just as obsessed with these details as I am! Oh, and we get a little bit of extra celebration too, because this is ELD’s second same-sex wedding! To celebrate their marriage, Rachel and Kate wanted to make sure that their friends and family had tons of fun at their wedding, and of course have everything reflect the two of them perfectly. I’d say that they certainly succeeded in this… from the game of bingo that guests played during the reception to the fun, whimsical details that they created themselves! The lovely brides Rachel and Kate are joining us today to give us some insight into their awesome wedding, so be on the lookout for some great tips!

What (or who) helped you most in your planning process and/or on your wedding day?

We did all the planning ourselves. I’m a wedding photographer so I’m always making mental notes on what works at a wedding and what doesn’t. Kate’s a high school art teacher so we wanted to do all the details ourselves. It was crazy but also a lot of fun. We didn’t have a “day of” wedding planner, but if I did it all over again I would have. One of Kate’s best friends Leah, and her husband Nick, really took charge on the wedding day and got everything set up that I didn’t have time to do. Without their work our wedding day would not have been as great!

What was the most important thing to you when deciding who to work with for your wedding?

We wanted to work with vendors who really cared about us and our wedding… not a vendor who is just doing another job. Being a gay wedding we also wanted people who not only were just “ok” with us getting married, but excited for us and excited that they got to be a vendor at a gay wedding. And obviously, we wanted vendors who really care about their work. 

What was your favorite thing about your wedding?

There were *so* many things we loved about our wedding day. The weather was perfect, our families were all there as were friends we hadn’t seen in forever. My favorite part of the day was seeing Kate for the first time. I hadn’t seen her dress yet and as it turned out, she bought the dress that I wanted her to try on when we first went dress shopping but the sales lady said it wouldn’t work for her body… but it obviously did!

Kate’s favorite part was when I cried while reading my vows… I got choked up when saying “I can’t wait to say: we’re mommies.”

We also LOVED our best man speeches. My college-age nephews gave an extremely funny speech about me.

What is your best piece of advice for other couples?

Plan as far ahead as you can… and ask your vendors for suggestions on anything they think would make your day easier. Have a person to take care of the “day of” duties of organizing setup, to herd people to photos and to be a go between with your vendors. Most importantly, just enjoy the day. Take time to sit back and just watch your family and friends having a great… just soak it in because the wedding will be over before you know it!

If you have a specific vision you want to make sure you share that with everyone that is helping you so they don’t go off on their own tangent. Check in with them often and if you really want your details done right, do it yourself. No matter what anyone says, it’s your wedding so stick to your vision.

 Best advice ever!! Thank you for sharing with us Rachel and Kate! And a big thank you to Laurel McConnell Photography for sharing this awesome wedding with all of us! :)

 I’m pretty much in love with every single detail of this wedding, but I think my absolute favorite has got to be the BINGO!! What a great idea!! How about you- what is your favorite detail from this fabulous wedding??

Vendors who made it all happen…